HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Iowa wrestlers worked through the Midlands Championships on the morning of Dec. 29, earning the Hawkeyes 51.0 team points and a first-place spot after the first session of the tournament.
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Unseeded Justin Stickley won two matches in the 125-pound bracket, upsetting 16-seed Connor Brown of South Dakota and then beating Kirk Johansen of Northern Illinois. He lost to the first-seed Nick Suriano in the Round of 16 by tech fall, 19-4.
Wrestling unattached, Hawkeye 125-pounder Spencer Lee began his first Midlands tournament on the right foot when he pinned Killian Cardinale of Old Dominion in 1:41 after a first-round bye. In the Round of 16, Lee, the No. 10 seed, beat seventh-seeded Travis Piotrowski of Illinois by tech fall, 17-2.
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At 133 pounds, both Paul Glynn and Phillip Laux advanced to the Round of 16. On the way, Glynn upset fifth-seeded Ben Thornton of Purdue in a 5-1 decision. Glynn then pinned Northwestern’s Anthony Rubinetti. In the Round of 16, Glynn topped Jens Lantz of Wisconsin by decision, 3-2, and will wrestle in the Quarterfinals.
After a first round bye, Laux beat Indiana’s Michael DeLaPena by decision, 9-2, to advance to the Round of 16. Laux then fell to No. 7-seed Micki Phillippi of Pittsburgh.
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Iowa also had success in the first two rounds of the 141-pound bracket. True freshman Max Murin beat Oregon’s Grant Willits via a major decision. He then topped Northwestern’s Jason Ipsarides, 6-2. Eighth-seeded Colton Schilling halted Murin’s progression in his first Midlands with a fall in 3:35.
In a battle for the starting job as Iowa’s 141-pounder, Carter Happel moved that much closer to the spot with his performance in the first session of Midlands. The redshirt freshman won by tech fall over Noah Hermasillo of Adams. He then topped Air Force’s Lenny Petersen by decision, 7-2. He met Penn’s Jacob Lizark in the Round of 16. Unranked Lizark had previously upset Maryland’s Ryan Diehl, but Happel downed him by a major decision, 10-2.
Vince Turk, Iowa’s other frontrunner for the 141-pound spot, won his opening match against No. 14-seed A.J. Jaffe of Harvard, 6-2. Turk then beat Northern Illinois’ Jaime Hernandez, 7-2, but was stopped in his tracks by third-seeded Cole Weaver of Indiana in an 8-3 decision.
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Senior and two-time Midlands Champion Branden Sorensen left little doubts after the first session of Midlands. After first- and second-round byes, Sorensen pinned Davey Tunon of Indiana in 3:52 after numerous takedowns. In the Round of 16, Sorensen dazzled Hawkeye fans again with a 26-11 tech fall over Old Dominion’s Kevin Budock.
Sophomore Jeren Glosser performed strongly in his Midlands début with a pin over Nebraska’s Jordan Shearer. He then won a convincing decision over fourth-seeded Brandon Wright of Indiana, 8-1. He lost in the Round of 16 to North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor, 7-4.
Wrestling unattached for Iowa, junior Pat Lugo topped Brown’s Zach Krause 4-2. Tenth-seeded Lugo then bet Isaac Reinemann of Illinois in a 7-4 decision. Lugo lost in the Round of 16 to seventh-seeded Joshua Maruca of Arizona State by decision, 4-1.
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Iowa’s other returning Midlands champion Michael Kemerer also flashed his dominance in the first session. He pinned his way straight to the Quarterfinals, serving up falls against Arizona State’s Gene Pierce in 2:35, Dylan Geick of Columbia in 1:30, and Brett Donner of Rutgers in 1:25.
In the three matches, Kemerer spent 5:30 on the mat in his first session while earning 9.0 team points for the Hawkeyes, the most by any wrestler in the tournament.
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Iowa’s 165-pounders — second-seed Alex Marinelli and eighth-seed Kaleb Young — both won their opening bouts.
Young earned a major decision over Patrick Gervish of Maryland, 15-3, to start his Midlands. He then fell to Jacob Morrissey of Purdue after a late 2 points were in awarded after review in a tiebreaker.
After byes in the first two rounds, Marinelli racked up numerous takedowns before finally pinning Johnny Blankeship of Nebraska in 6:05.
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Joey Gunther was one of two Hawkeyes to lose in his opening match. After a first-round bye, 11-seed Gunther fell to Rutgers’ Jordan Pagano in a 7-4 decision.
In the consolation bracket Gunther beat Harvard’s Brock Wilson by decision, 3-2, and is still in position to win third place.
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Iowa’s 184-pounder Mitch Bowman won all of his bouts in Session 1. He started his day with a major decision over Brett Perry of Buffalo, then won by an injury default over 5th-seeded Christian LaFragola in 3:52.
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Sophomore Cash Wilcke and true freshman Jacob Warner both won all of their bouts in the first session of the tournament.
Third-seeded Wilcke pinned Anthony Messner of Rutgers in 4:45 after piling up takedowns to start his day. The strong start was followed by a closer 2-1 decision over Lehigh’s Kyle Gentile.
Seventh-seeded Warner beat Tyler Johnson of North Carolina State in an 8-2 decision. He then topped 10th-seeded Jackson Striggow of Michigan by a major decision, 11-3.
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In his fourth Midlands appearance, Sam Stoll gunned for the championship. The second-seeded Stoll earned two DQ by stall rulings after having byes in the first two rounds to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
True freshman Aaron Costello lost to first-seed Tanner Hall of Arizona State by fall in 4:01 in his opening round of the tournament. In the consolation bracket, Costello lost to Ian James of Buffalo in a 5-3 decision.